Updated, Not Informed

- Sree Dasgupta 

Ignorance is bliss.

But it is no longer just bliss; it has become a way of life. We say “the math ain't mathing,” yet we never pause long enough to understand why. In an age where information is only a click away, we remain oblivious to what is happening around us. Procrastination and “brainrot” have become our escape from reality. But who are we escaping from? 

Hardships? Problems?

Aren’t they ours to deal with?

By choosing not to engage, we choose comfort over curiosity. It seems as though everyone has taken “curiosity killed the cat” a little too seriously. In the digital age, where ignorance was expected to decline, we see it growing instead. Social media algorithms feed us what we already agree with, creating echo chambers of our own thoughts. Be it crude behaviour dressed as ‘trend’ or ‘isms’ masked as ‘sigma behaviour’, anything that had once seemed wrong starts to feel right. Because when every piece of content in your feed is relatable, it stops being a perspective and turns into programming.

Those few seconds of quick dopamine replace deeper awareness, until distraction becomes our default setting.

But beyond fleeting moments of entertainment, do reels and short-form content really offer anything meaningful? Not quite. We come across new pieces of information, ready to share them with someone else, but how many times do we cross-check? For us, Wikipedia has become our primary source of information, and hence the huge amounts of misinformation.

Yes, it's true, “Living is easy with eyes closed,” as John Lennon mentioned as well, but not everyone can afford to be ignorant, right?

The ones who stay ignorant, clueless about their next step in life, floating about, are the ones who can afford to stay ignorant. They can afford their delusions, but for the rest of us, indifference comes at a cost. Because ignorance brings consequences that aren’t worth even five minutes of a dopamine boost.

The internet indeed provides information, yet we remain far less aware. After all, what use is a library full of answers if you don’t know which questions to ask?

Constant exposure to quick, shallow content reduces our patience for depth and reflection. Overconsumption leads to mental fatigue, where thinking itself begins to feel like effort. What we call “brainrot culture” encourages low-effort consumption, turning ignorance into humour. We live in a time where awareness has become performative. A headline is enough to form an opinion. A short reel is enough to feel informed. Complex issues are reduced to easily digestible fragments, stripped of nuance and context, and presented as complete truths.

We take seconds to form opinions about anything. As respectful netizens, we love forming judgments from our own point of view, an extremely hypocritical approach, considering that we are the ones who came up with the saying “we listen, and we don’t judge.”

In this process, understanding becomes secondary to expression. We are quicker to speak than to question, quicker to react than to reflect. Information is no longer something we engage with deeply; it is something we consume and move past. And so, we exist in a strange contradiction. We are constantly exposed to information, yet rarely transformed by it. We recognise more, but understand less.

And what about the youth?

With shrinking attention spans and opinions shaped by trends, our awareness often remains surface-level. Genuine political or social understanding is replaced by quick takes and recycled narratives. Posting becomes a priority over perceiving.

As Ron Weasley once said, “We need to sort out our priorities.”

Yet, it would be unfair to condemn an entire generation. Some individuals are aware, informed, and actively engaged. For them, the same digital world becomes a tool for learning, questioning, and change. You’ll find many such individuals out there utilising every new technology that is being introduced in the market in the best possible manner, as the familiar saying goes, “padhne wale bacche kahi bhi padh lete hain.”

So, what does that mean?

It means that the world is full of answers. Like an escape room, it offers clues everywhere; we simply need to pay attention and use them wisely.

Keeping our eyes closed isn’t freedom; it isn’t paradise either; it’s just a failed attempt at trying to find a way out, as even Red Peter the Ape in A Report to an Academy had realised.

Perhaps it is time to forget the first half of the saying and remember what follows:

“Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.”